Phillies: A starter again, Kendrick ready to impress

Times staff / ERIC HARTLINE
Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick, after his first time facing hitters this spring in Clearwater, said Monday that ‘I’m a totally different pitcher than I’ve been in the past.’

CLEARWATER, Fla. — If not for Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay coming to the Phillies, Kyle Kendrick might never have left the Phillies’ starting rotation over the last four seasons.

And if not for Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay coming to the Phillies, Kyle Kendrick might not have become a pitcher who has earned his way back into a secure spot in the Phillies’ rotation for 2013.

It is the yin and yang of a curious past six seasons for Kendrick, who went from getting Rookie of the Year votes in 2007, to a Triple-A banishment in 2009, to shuttling between long relief and the rotation the past two seasons. Despite going 5-4 with a 3.14 ERA in 15 starts in 2011, Kendrick was forced to watch Joe Blanton and his bloated contract get handed the final slot in the rotation for 2012.

Still, when Blanton mercifully was shipped to the Dodgers in early August, Kendrick was able to get back to life in the rotation. In 12 starts over the final two months he went 7-4 with a 3.20 ERA; if you give him a pass for needing to stretch out his arm, in his final 10 starts Kendrick went 7-3 with a 2.43 ERA.

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The Phillies were confident enough after that performance to trade Vance Worley to Minnesota and address their center field problem with Ben Revere, which ensconced Kendrick as the No. 4 starter behind Cole Hamels, Halladay and Lee.

Kendrick said he often is asked if he wonders what life on the mound would have been like for him in recent years if he hadn’t been trapped behind a wave of high-priced established starters. He isn’t sure he has an answer.

“I don’t know. You know a lot of guys — people off the field, friends — have said that to me,” Kendrick said. “I don’t know. I’m happy here. They had trust in me when they drafted me in ’03. You can always say, ‘What if?’ but this is where I want to be a long time. I’ve been behind a lot of good pitchers throughout my career.

“I learned how to carry myself off the field (from the veterans) ... just the whole learning process. You watch the guys who have been around a long time, pitching a long time are obviously doing something right. So you want to follow those guys.”

The last two times Kendrick served as a regular in the starting rotation for the entire season — 2008 and 2010 — his performances led to him getting pushed off the bottom of the rotation. In ’08 he had the second-highest ERA (5.49) of any NL starter with at least 150 innings of work; in ’10 he had the eighth-highest ERA (4.73). So there was a reason the Phillies weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to go back to the right-hander in 2012.

However, this Kendrick has added a pitch — a changeup — that he has refined into a true out pitch. After averaging 4.1 strikeouts per nine innings in the first five years of his career, he punched out 6.6 batters per nine last season.

“I think the confidence in my pitches and the development of those pitches (have been a factor),” said Kendrick, who was among several pitchers who saw their first action against hitters during Monday’s spring workout at the Carpenter Complex. “The changeup has been a big out pitch for me, and I’m not throwing my cutter as much — just showing it with two strikes to guys.

“I’ve learned how to pitch and just got better by developing and growing. I’m a totally different pitcher than I’ve been in the past.”

Amazingly, Kendrick still has one more year of arbitration after this. He’ll make $4.5 million this season. According to Baseball-Reference.com’s player similarity tool, the pitcher most similar to the 28-year-old at the same age is, ironically, Blanton. When Blanton was in the same situation at the same age, the Phillies gave him a three-year, $24 million contract extension.

Obviously, Blanton didn’t live up to that money (although the Angels somehow handed him a two-year, $15 million deal this winter), but the point is that if Kendrick continues to pitch this season the way he did in the final two months of last season, the payday will come ... somewhere.

“The way I finished (in 2012), hopefully I’ll take that into this year,” Kendrick said. “I feel pretty confident where I am now, with my pitches and just try to keep doing what I’ve been doing. I hope I can build on last year’s second half and take it into this half.”

Roy Halladay was among those pitchers facing hitters in live batting practice for the first time, and while most of the hitters were getting way more looks at pitches than taking hacks, the step for Halladay was a solid one.

“Doc was fine,” pitching coach Rich Dubee said. “Overall, I thought it was a good day of BP today. I thought most of the guys threw pretty well, as far as being in the strike zone, command, that stuff.”

Clearly, the stakes are a little higher for Halladay, who confessed to having back problems last year that helped lead to one of the worst seasons (11-8, 4.49 ERA) of his career. Dubee concurred that he is spending more time watching a guy who historically has been able to be placed on autopilot as he prepares for the season.

“More so this year, to see how he’s holding his legs, repeating his delivery,” Dubee said. “Today he was pretty good. He was real good.”

Halladay didn’t throw any curveballs, but that is a pitch he typically waits a couple of weeks before he unleashes.

NOTES: Outfielder Delmon Young gingerly threw baseballs in the outfield of Bright House Field Monday morning. ... Rule 5 outfielder Ender Inciarate is getting Manuel’s attention with his range in center. After Ben Revere the Phillies don’t have any natural center fielders in camp or very close to big-league ready in the minors. “He’s definitely going to play out there,” Charlie Manuel said. “I noticed him the other day. He took off from right-center and caught a ball (that) I couldn’t believe he caught. He definitely has some talent.”